Keeping Your Heart Healthy At Middle Age May Protect Your Brain At Later Stages Of Life

The heart is one of the vital organs of the body and one should take utmost care of it. The age of brain depends on the health of your heart and blood vessels at a young age. Also, previous studies have established a link between heart disorders that have a negative impact on the brain at a later point of life.

The new study throws more light on this aspect. The study says that individuals suffering from heart attacks and strokes at middle age develop Alzheimer’s at a later stage of life.

Healthy middle age heart

The individual’s suffering from heart disorders and stroke at middle age were more likely to have increased levels of amyloid. These factors lead to Alzheimer’s disease at a later stage.

Amyloid is a protein that the body produces normally. In the case of the healthy brain, these fragments are broken down and removed. Rebecca Gottesman, the lead author of the study said that MRI scans of senior individuals have reflected a large deposit of amyloids in their brains.

The amyloid deposits were greatly seen among smokers, obese people, diabetic and people with high cholesterol levels during middle age.

The conducted study

For the purpose of the study, Gottesman and his team have studied data from another ongoing study.

The researchers studied the data of more than 350 individuals with significant signs of dementia. The participants were selected from Forsyth County, Washington County, and Jackson County. The heart conditions of these individuals were monitored since 1987. At the beginning of the study, an average age of participants was 52 years. Among total 350 participants, 60 percent were female and 43 percent were male. After examining this individual for 24 years, the participant’s amyloid protein was examined.

After the study, the link between vascular risks and brain amyloids was seen. The association was seen irrespective of age, race and gender.

The results of the study have been published on April 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.